Although Jake's abilities were Holy Light and lightning, his favorite weather was actually fog.
Even in his previous life, his favorite Onepiece arc had been the Devil's Triangle arc.
Back when he was reading the manga, Jake had greatly admired the peculiar creatures of the Devil's Triangle, the overall artistic style, and the mysterious mist-shrouded scenery.
Now that he could experience that atmosphere firsthand, he thought it was quite nice.
After Ark Maxim had been flying over the Devil's Triangle for some time, Jake instantly located the island-sized pirate ship using the vast range of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit-enhanced Observation Haki.
That was Gekko Moria's ship—Thriller Bark!
In an unnoticed corner, the massive Ark hovered silently above Thriller Bark.
The energy source invented by Dr. Vegapunk was enough to keep the Ark airborne for a full day and night.
As long as Jake returned to replenish the energy within that time, everything would be fine.
Jake glanced back at Rosinante, who was still lying on the ground pretending to be dead to scare those two kids.
"Rosinante~ I'll leave the Ark to you. I'm going down to take a look first. If anyone here gives you trouble, just let me know, and I'll come back to give them some electrotherapy!"
As Jake spoke the last part, he gave Sanji and Law a meaningful look, his words dripping with unmistakable threat.
Upon seeing Jake's gaze, the two of them—whose eyes had been somewhat dull—instantly snapped to attention.
They stiffened and replied.
"Yes! Commander Jake!"
After resolving the last bit of instability on the Ark, Jake turned to Monet and asked softly.
"Do you want to come down and take a look too? There might be zombies, vampires, ghosts, and things like that down there. If you're scared of that stuff, I'd suggest staying behind."
Monet rolled her eyes at him and retorted.
"If I were afraid of things like that, why would I have joined the Marines? Let's go together. Who knows—maybe you'll be the one who gets scared!"
Jake chuckled, and the two of them leaped straight down from the Ark.
For those who had mastered Moon Walk, height was practically meaningless.
A few hundred meters before landing, they both activated Moon Walk simultaneously.
A series of footsteps lingered in the air as they touched down on the ground without making a sound.
Stepping on the slightly thick, moldy leaves covering the ground and breathing in the faint mist-laden moisture unique to foggy days, Jake felt his mood lift considerably.
Though they were in a dense forest, the surroundings weren't particularly dark.
The ground was scattered with faintly glowing gravel.
Jake looked down and saw that they were Fluorescent Stones.
It seemed Moria had put considerable effort into decorating his Devil's Triangle.
Jake wasn't in a hurry to find Moria—time was still on their side.
The Ark could stay airborne for a full day and night. If he went after Moriah now, he wouldn't get to enjoy the unique scenery.
Even Monet was impressed by the surroundings, clicking her tongue as she remarked.
"Though the style here is eerie, you can tell someone's been maintaining this forest. A naturally grown forest wouldn't look like this. There aren't any rotting trees on the ground, and the fallen leaves seem deliberately scattered."
Monet's analysis was quite detailed, and the two of them walked while discussing the various arrangements within this gloomy forest.
Just as they passed a corner, a tree branch suddenly lightly hooked onto Jake's Marines coat.
At the same time, a monster with a human face and a tree-like body appeared in front of Monet.
The monster's body was covered in stitch marks.
It glared coldly at the two before it, its voice hoarse.
"Who are you? Don't you know what this place is? If I hand you over to Lord Moria, that'll make 20 people I've submitted—just 80 more, and I can reclaim my own shadow!
So blame your own bad luck for boarding this pirate ship of hell!"
As the monster spoke, it yanked hard on Jake's coat.
But to its surprise, Jake and Monet stood motionless before it, not even blinking.
At first, the monster thought they were paralyzed with fear—until it pulled Jake's Marines coat of justice toward itself and realized in horror.
These two weren't just unlucky fools—they were high-ranking Marines officers who had come specifically to this island!
And since Moria's experiments hadn't been going on for long, this tree monster had even seen Jake's picture in the papers.
The moment it recognized him, its entire body went numb.
Everyone knew what fruit Jake had eaten.
Everyone knew zombies feared salt and sunlight above all else.
And unfortunately, Jake wielded something even more terrifying than both.
Holy Light-infused lightning struck straight down, illuminating the tree monster's world in blinding brightness.
Just a tiny wisp of that lightning made its entire body tremble and convulse uncontrollably.
"Please! Don't kill me! I'm not a pirate—I'm just the shadow of a fisherman from a nearby village! Moria cut my shadow with his scissors and stuffed me into this zombie tree body! I swear, I've only sold fewer than twenty people to Moria for their shadows!
And after their shadows were taken, it wasn't all bad—many gained a zombie clone here, a body stronger than their weak original ones. Some even volunteered for this!"
Jake listened quietly before speaking softly.
"This must be the outskirts of Thriller Bark, right? If possible, take us inside. I have business with Gekko Moria. And I need you to confront him in person. If you've harmed others, you won't escape Impel Down's cells."
As he spoke, electricity crackled around him—golden, dazzling currents that made the monster's heart stop.
It could feel it: any single bolt contained enough power to reduce it to ashes.
A force it could never hope to resist!